Loss-prevention wallet clamp and chain device

ABSTRACT

In a preferred embodiment, a wallet safety clamp and chain and belt latch on the end of the chain for slidably clamping over the belt edge of a man, the chain being of a link-type which does not therefore knot during use to thereby weaken the chain, and the chain being linked to a circular end of the head of the clamp in which the head is a bent rigid but resilient steel wire, with one end of the head-forming wire extending laterally a very minor distance and looping back in a reverse direction to form a semicircular hook-portion as the head catch, and the other portion of wire extending from the head extending linearly slightly greater in length than a typical wallet&#39;&#39;s width and then bending sharply in a rounded bend to form a reverse-direction leg which is latchable into the semicircular hook-portion which extends traversely to the direction of the linearly extending reverse-direction leg, such that there is formed a head extending in a space-saving and non-protruding direction the same as the plane in which the semicircular hook-portion extends, and with the hook-portion being formed in close relationship to the backbody leg so as to not be uncomfortably wide and bulky in latch nature when the clamp is buckled around a wallet, and with the back-body leg continuing directly without curves into the head portion thereby avoiding unnecessary protrusions of tumor portions which might catch on a pocket or which might in time wear-away a pocket undesirably in the placing of the wallet into a pocket and removing the same therefrom, whereby a functional wallet clamp is provided obtaining both security against loss of the wallet accidentally such as when sitting in an easy-chair or automobile seat or the like, while being attractive in apperance and easily latchable on and removable from a wallet as desired by virtue of the above structural relationships.

{22] Filed:

nited States Patent [191 Silverstein LOSS-PREVENTION WALLET CLAMP AND CHAIN DEVICE [76] Inventor: Bernard Silverstein, 9-34 130th St.,

College Point, NY. 11356 Nov. 16, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 416,414

[52] US. Cl. 24/3 H, 24/237, 150/47 [51] Int. Cl. A45f 5/02, A450 13/20 [58] Field of Search 150/47; 24/3 R, 3 D, 3 H, 24/3 M, 49 CF, 153 PC, 84 A, 85 A, 86A, 159, 3 C, 237, 73 CS, 81 AB, 49 C, 49 CC, 49 CP, 3 K, 261 PC, 261GF, 261 CC, 139,

Primary Examiner- Donald A. Griffin 57 4 I ABSTRACT In a preferred embodiment, a wallet safety clamp and chain and belt latch on the end of the chain for slid- [111 3,822,446 [4 July 9,1974

ably clamping over the belt edge of a man, the chain being of a link-type which. does not therefore knot during use to thereby weaken the chain, and the chain being linked to a circular end of the head of the clamp in which the head is a bent rigid but resilient steel wire, with one end of the head-forming wire extending laterally a very minor distance and looping back in a reverse direction to form a semicircular hook-portion as the head catch, and the other portion of wire extending from the head extending linearly slightly greater in length than a typical wallets width and then bending sharply in a rounded bend to form a reversedirection leg which is latchable into the semicircular hook-portion which extends traversely to'the direction of the linearly extendingreverse-direction leg, such that there is formed a head'extending ina spacesaving and non-protruding direction the same as the plane in which the semicircular hook-portion extends, and with the hook-portion being formed in close relationship .to the back-body leg so as to not be uncomfortably wide and bulky in latch nature when the clamp is buckled around a wallet, and with the backbody leg continuing directly without curves into the head portion thereby avoiding unnecessary protrusions of tumor portions which might catch on a pocket or which might in time wear-awaya pocket un'desirably in the placing of the wallet into a pocket and removing the same therefrom, whereby a functional wallet clamp is provided obtaining both security against loss of the wallet accidentally such as when sitting in an easy-chair or automobile seat or the like, while being attractive in apperance and easily latchable on and removable from a wallet as desired by virtue of the above structural relationships.

8 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures LOSS-PREVENTION WALLET CLAMP AND CHAIN DEVICE This invention relates to a safety device against accidental loss of a mans wallet from his pants pocket, or

womans wallet from her pocketbook.

BACKGROUND OFTHE INVENTION DISCLOSURE Prior to the present invention, it has not been unusual I for a man s back pocket in which the'wallet is often carried to be unfastened by being unbuttoned or for the button to have been pulled-off, or the like'whereby the wallet of the person is apt to be accidentally lost from the pocket during sitting'in a cushioned easy-chair or in the automobile or the like. Although possibly the loss of a wallet by theft, i.e., by a pick-pocket is not as great, it is nevertheless another possibility facing the person carrying his wallet in. the back pocket.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION DISCLOSURE apart legs are not yieldable unduly and thus firmly and securely hold the wallet clamped thereby. The chain must be a link type chain, as opposed to the male female segmented chain type which easily knots, and thereby weakens such type chain which thereafter easily breaks. The latch element on the other end of the chain opposite from the pin clamp, is preferably of the type that can be slip-clamped over the thin edge of a belt. 1

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to overcome substantially the greater above accidental losses or theft.

Another objectis to obtain 'a wallet security device which is functional in its shape and operation, as to be compatible with the tight-nature of the rear pocket when the pants are being worn, togetherwith the bulky nature of most mens wallets when normally over-filled with cards and papers along with normal quantities of money bills, and'the need for easeof access to the wallet without interference from a security mechanism, and to avoid too great a thickness of such device which could cause discomfort or pain to the person during sitting, and to avoid projections that might catch on or wear surfaces of the pants pocket, and to facilitate ease of access to and the opening of the security device in a closed or locked state.

Another object-is to retain simplicity of design and manufacture of and appearance of the safety security possibilities of the device, to thereby permit its availability to the public.

Other objects become apparent from the preceding and followingdisclosure. j

Onevor more objects of the present invention are obtained by the invention as definedherein.

Broadly the invention includes a latch-pin clamping device somewhat in the nature of an enlarged safety pin except of a very special shape and structure consistent with the above-noted objects. In particular, it should be noted, in order to more fully understand the importance of various important features of the present in-- vention, that in the development of the final inventive structure and shape thereof, that the inventor built and tried many various embodiments of other designs and foundthem to be wanting in many desirable features and to be entirely impractical and non-functional. For example, in considering a back-shaft leg portion of a pin clamp, it has been found to be important that the back-shaft leg be substantially rigid and straight or linear axially, to a head latch and chain-attaching portion, and that the back-shaft continue linearly into the loopring which should thus be formed to one-side of the back-shaft annular ring formed by the circular bending of the head-end of the back-shaft leg, and once the annulus has been formed to define a space through which a chain may be attached,'the annulus-defining prefera- TI-IE FIGURES FIG. 1 illustrates a side perspective view of the wallet pin-clamp and chain and belt-attachment-combination of a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates a side view of the combination of FIG. .1, shown with the pin-clamp in the open state.

FIG. 3 illustrates a view taken along lines 33 of FIG. 2. I I

FIG. 4 illustrates an end view of the head of the pinclamp as taken along lines 4-4 of FIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION In greater detail, a typical and preferred embodiment of the overall combination 5 is illustrated in FIG. 1 in perspective side view, including a clamp having a latchable lineally-extending ended leg 13 formed from a unitary wire member 6 bent at point 13' to form the respective legs 13 and back-shaft leg 20, with the bend at 13 being a narrow or sharp angular bend so as to define a prescribed spacing at wallet position 11 for folded wallet l2, and the head-end of the back-shaft leg 20 being lineally continuous right into the defining of the head at which point the wire bends laterally in the forming of a lateral loop 15 of substantially annular shape defining therein an annularspace of small size,

and then after the forming of the loop the wire bending" in a lateral side direction transverse to each of the legs and toward-the outer leg 13 as shown in FIG. 2 in the open state and thereafter, after extending a very limited short distance reversing direction by defining a semicircular hook portion 17 having a substantially flatended face 14 and a substantially flat or flattened exterior face 18 of the hook portion 17 adjacent the end 14, whereby the hook portion 17 is formed in relative and substantially close relationship to the back-shaft leg 20' so as'not to extend too far laterally which could result in an undesirable projection which could cause discomfort to the wearer of the wallet having the clamp thereon, or which might result in wear and tear on the pocket or inhibit the insertion of the wallet or removal of the wallet into and out-of the rearpocket, and theflattened face 18 serving to facilitate the easy fastening of the leg 13 within the space defined by the hook portion 17 as the leg 13 is moved around the end 14 to latch and unlatch. It is of critical importance to the invention that the chain be a link-type chain 7, for the reasons stated above that other types of chains are more subject to knotting, and once knotted the chain is weakened and very susceptable to thereafter break at the point where the knot existed previously, which weakened chain would serve to defeat the utility of the present invention substantially. The chain has. on the free end thereof latch means such as that shown in FIG. 1 through 3 preferably, as latch 8 formed as a unitary member an attaching ring formed by indentations 24 of the shoulder 8, and with the wedge-clamp legs 22 having mounted on their opposing ends a tubular roll element 21 facilitating the mounting of the wedge member on the belt, as well as covering the opposing free ends of the belt latch member in order to avoid the possibility of fabrics and/or other things inadvertantly catching thereon.

It is to be understood that while in a preferred embodiment of the present invention the pin-clamp for the wallet is preferably of hard resilient steel, it is within the scope of the invention to utilize sturdy plastic or other metal sufficiently hard and somewhat resilient to meet the utilities of the present invention. Similarly it is preferred that the chain be of a strong material such as metal or aloy thereof or a special plastic having sufficient required strength. Similarly the belt clamp com-- position may vary but is preferably of steel, or .a loop may be substituted though not preferred.

Thus, by the present invention, a wallet 12 may be fastened onto a leg 13 by the end of the leg 13 snapping around the end 14 to be retained by the closed-state loop portion 17.

It is within the scope of the present invention to make such modifications and variations as would be apparent to a person of ordinary skill, including the substitution of obvious equivalents.

I claim:

1. A wallet clamp device comprising in combination: a unitary rigid wire-like member substantially resilient and shaped into two substantially parallel first and second legs of sufficient dimensions so as to encompass an associated wallet formed by a substantially sharp rounded bend at about a mid-point along the length of the wire-like member, each of the legs extending from the rounded bend substantially linearly in a common direction and spaced apart from one-another, the first leg being of a length of a first predetermined dimension, the second leg extending a second predetermined distance substantially linearly through its length to a second end of the second leg, the second end thereof continuing in a substantially tight reversely bent circular end lying wholely between the planes formed by said legs defining an annular space thereof and thereafter angling substantially laterally transversely to the portions of the legs extending linearly and in a direction substantially toward the first leg for a third predetermined short dimension and thereafter bending to and extending in a reverse direction forming a hook-shaped portion defining a semi-circular partial ring, the hooklike portion being positioned such that when the first leg is compressed against resilient outwardly biasing force of the second leg from the first leg in order to move the second leg toward the first leg and to maneuver a free-end of the first leg around the hook-like portion to be restrained in a closed state within the semicircular partial ring the closed-state first and second legs are throughout their linear lengthsa substantially uniform fourth predetermined distance in spacing from one-another.

2. A wallet clamp device of claim 1, in which the tight circular end extends along a plane common to that in which the rounded bend extends.

3. A wallet clamp device of claim 2, in which the hook-like portion extends to form the semi-circular partial ring along a plane substantially transverse to the linearly extending first leg.

4. A wallet clamp device of claim 3, in which an outer face of the semi-circular partial ring is substantially flattened at a terminal portion of the semi-circular partial ring.

5. A wallet clamp device of claim 4, including a linktype chain of a fifth predetermined length dimension, and a latching means joined to one end of the link-type chain for fastening to an object, and the remaining opposite end of the link-type chain being linked to the tight circular end through the annular space thereof.

6. A wallet clamp device of claim 5, in which'the latching means is a u-shaped clamp slidably clampable over an edge of a belt.

7. A wallet clamp device of claim 1, including a linktype chain of a fifth predetermined length dimension, and a latching means joined to one end of the link-type chain for fastening to an object, and the remaining opposite'endof the linktype chain being linked to the tight circular end through the annular space thereof.

8. A wallet clamp device of claim 7, in which the latching means is a u-shaped clamp slidably clampable over an edge of a belt. 

1. A wallet clamp device comprising in combination: a unitary rigid wire-like member substantially resilient and shaped into two substantially parallel first and second legs of sufficient dimensions so as to encompass an associated wallet formed by a substantially sharp rounded bend at about a mid-point along the length of the wire-like member, each of the legs extending from the rounded bend substantially linearly in a common direction and spaced apart from one-another, the first leg being of a length of a first predetermined dimension, the second leg extending a second predetermined distance substantially linearly through its length to a second end of the second leg, the second end thereof continuing in a substantially tight reversely bent circular end lying wholely between the planes formed by said legs defining an annular space thereof and thereafter angling substantially laterally transversely to the portions of the legs extending linearly and in a direction substantially toward thE first leg for a third predetermined short dimension and thereafter bending to and extending in a reverse direction forming a hook-shaped portion defining a semi-circular partial ring, the hook-like portion being positioned such that when the first leg is compressed against resilient outwardly biasing force of the second leg from the first leg in order to move the second leg toward the first leg and to maneuver a free-end of the first leg around the hook-like portion to be restrained in a closed state within the semi-circular partial ring the closed-state first and second legs are throughout their linear lengths a substantially uniform fourth predetermined distance in spacing from oneanother.
 2. A wallet clamp device of claim 1, in which the tight circular end extends along a plane common to that in which the rounded bend extends.
 3. A wallet clamp device of claim 2, in which the hook-like portion extends to form the semi-circular partial ring along a plane substantially transverse to the linearly extending first leg.
 4. A wallet clamp device of claim 3, in which an outer face of the semi-circular partial ring is substantially flattened at a terminal portion of the semi-circular partial ring.
 5. A wallet clamp device of claim 4, including a link-type chain of a fifth predetermined length dimension, and a latching means joined to one end of the link-type chain for fastening to an object, and the remaining opposite end of the link-type chain being linked to the tight circular end through the annular space thereof.
 6. A wallet clamp device of claim 5, in which the latching means is a u-shaped clamp slidably clampable over an edge of a belt.
 7. A wallet clamp device of claim 1, including a link-type chain of a fifth predetermined length dimension, and a latching means joined to one end of the link-type chain for fastening to an object, and the remaining opposite end of the link-type chain being linked to the tight circular end through the annular space thereof.
 8. A wallet clamp device of claim 7, in which the latching means is a u-shaped clamp slidably clampable over an edge of a belt. 